


the sea swallowed the sun, the moon, and the stars

by FiresFromOurHearts



Series: Uncharted Waters [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU - Freeform, Fighting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Justice, Rebuilt Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, Revenge, Root - Freeform, Same thing as revenge right?, Second Shinobi War, Team as Family, The Fall Of Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, Why have one when you can have both
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:35:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28660320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/pseuds/FiresFromOurHearts
Summary: The one where Toru stands in Uzushio and on the shores of another country, his ANBU team turn back andrun. They make it in time and so the world pays for letting Uzushio fall.
Relationships: Original Character & Original Character & Original Character & Original Character
Series: Uncharted Waters [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875832
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62





	the sea swallowed the sun, the moon, and the stars

They pause when they arrive at the shore of Hi no Kuni, staring out to sea where Uzushio lies on the horizon. The islands are choked by black smoke, and it’s visible even in another country. But right now, that doesn’t matter to them.

They don’t ask one another whether Toru will survive. They know he will not. He cannot. Not alone.

“We can’t go back,” Saya Uzumaki, Tora, says. The words are forced out of her mouth, taste like the ash they ran through, and drop to the ground to join her fracturing heart.

“Our Uzukage ordered us,” Mari Sato—Kame—agrees. Except, it’s not so much an agreement as it is simple fact. It’s what happened, after all. The Uzukage ordered them to go.

_(Didn’t order them to die.)_

There’s a pause, then-

“Did he?” Kanko Tahara, Tori, said, eyes narrowed in thought.

Saya looks at him. There’s something in his tone. It’s the tone he uses when their mission has gone to shit and he’s come up with a plan that Toru might not like but will work. Tilting her head, she considers his words alongside Mari’s words. And… “He more or less said to help the people of Uzushio stay alive,” Saya says, the glimmer of an idea in her eyes as she realises what Kanko is getting at. “And we did that.”

They had. As they’d run, they’d helped anyone they found in Uzu no Kuni, whether they be of Uzushio or just from the same country. Now there was no one to help, _(they couldn’t help Toru, not from here)_ , and they were forced to stay away as Uzushio fell with their leader amongst the burning buildings.

“Y’know,” Mari says slowly, “most of the other ANBU had the option to stay if they wanted. And most of them did—if they weren’t ordered away. It’s _Toru_ who ordered us away. Not the Uzukage. And not the ANBU Commander either.”

Saya inhales sharply and Kanko grins, slow and sharp. “It was personal,” he breathes out. And this? This is a turning point. _The_ turning point. They could do as Toru ordered, knowing that it was Toru who gave them the orders and understanding why he wanted this. They could respect his wishes.

Or they could do what they’ve always done, and look after their captain like the family they all are.

Mari breathes out, slowly, carefully, excitedly. Adrenaline rushes through all of them. “Let’s go get Taichō,” she says.

Together, they take off back along the ocean that they’d just raced through. No longer do their limbs feel like they’ve got weights attached to them. Their aches and pains of the past few days seem to have disappeared. And the black smoke in the distance, hovering over their islands like it’s made itself at home there, only urges them faster and faster.

_(Here is what they do not know: Uzushio has already fallen.)_

_(Here is what they do know: Toru is still alive. It’s the only thing they need to know.)_

* * *

Impossibly, somehow they hear his words before they see him, before they see his enemies. It’s like the wind took the words to them, made them understand the importance.

“The sea never dies.”

It’s Toru. They’d know it in their bones even if they didn’t know his voice. It’s Toru and Toru who sounds triumphant rather than defeated. Toru who grins with a mouthful of blood and dares people to come at him anyway. Toru who seems to have lost but still has half a dozen plans in his weapons pouch.

Their feet pound on the stones painted red with blood. The rooftops are too dangerous to use, and there are seals scattered around that they have to avoid, _(corpses too, but they knew to expect those)_.

Toru’s chakra flickers against their senses. And- And it’s like he’s preparing for one final stand, like he’s trying to call his chakra to him but it won’t answer.

Kanko signs a plan at the others. He has Saya drop back whilst he and Mari round the corner. They don’t pause, just take in the scene, and launch themselves forward as they always do. No hesitation, not when Toru’s trying and failing to stand.

Their enemy is vaguely familiar. Though, Kanko’s far more used to seeing it on paper rather than in person. It’s the Mizukage. He has a sword in hand and Toru at his feet, _(Toru, blood stained and bleeding, blinking with eyes unfocussed, dying and dying and dying)_.

Kanko goes high, forces the Mizukage to duck or lose his head. Mari follows him, placing herself between Toru and the Mizukage and refusing to be moved, _(she never will—she would die first, Kanko knows)_. And Saya comes around the back, crouching next to Toru with hands glowing green.

“Heya,” Kanko says, grinning, _(snarling)_ , at the Mizukage. There’s no rage sitting in his stomach—it’s everywhere. It flows in his veins, sits on his tongue, coats his chakra. All Kanko is is rage, _(because if he stopped to think, if he paused, he’d fall prey to the grief and fear waiting to ambush him)_. “Hope you don’t mind if we join the party.”

The Mizukage tightens his grip on his sword. But there are four Kiri-nins dead around him. Toru began the fight—so it’s up to his team to finish it.

_(Here are the things that Toru’s ANBU team have going for them: they have not been fighting and still have almost all their chakra; they are angry; that are Uzu-nins.)_

_(Here is the thing the Mizukage has going for him: nothing.)_

Baring his teeth, Kanko leaps forward, water curling around his hand, before it explodes outward. The Mizukage leaps backwards, lands on a piece of rubble, and Mari comes out from beside of it, kunai nicking the Mizukage’s shoulder. The blood dribbles down the ninja’s shoulder and splatters on the ground, indistinguishable among everyone else’s.

Kanko pauses, watching. “Looks like you bleed red like the rest of us,” he says.

The Mizukage, however, does not appear pleased by his observation and instead charges forward. Kanko laughs as he meets the other ninja, shoving forward with chakra rocketing down his arms. The Mizukage stumbles as Saya upsets the ground around him even as she continues healing Toru.

Mari comes from the side, finger tips outstretched with wind chakra, and they brush the Mizukage’s neck, leaving bleeding scratches in their wake. She lands next to Kanko with a hiss. “Fucking sensor,” she says like she herself isn’t one.

Rolling his neck, Kanko has to smile at the focussed way the Mizukage watches him. “You made a mistake coming to Uzushio,” he says, _(made a mistake attacking Uzushio, made a mistake not paying enough attention, made a mistake **trying to kill Toru** )_. Then, he backflips and Saya charges from behind, a twister of water in one hand.

Kanko retreats to where Toru lies, prone and pale and bloody, _(but not still bleeding—Saya had only leapt into the fight because she’d stabilised Toru as much as possible)_. He stands above his captain, and watches as Mari and Saya keep the Mizukage on the edge.

However, he also sees the way that Mari’s starting to keep the weight off her left foot, which she’d injured early on during the invasion and hadn’t had it healed since it was a minor injury. Flaring his chakra, he slips away and into the shadows of the rubble whilst Mari takes his spot.

Alone against the Mizukage, Saya is hard-pressed. She’s not a frontal assault ninja, she’s an assassin and a hunter-nin, _(after being a teammate)_. Still, she bares her teeth at the Mizukage and fights with everything she is and everything she has. Creeping around in the shadows, Kanko’s impressed.

With the fire flickering behind him, Kanko darts forward. The Mizukage spins, a wave of water shoving Saya away, and meets Kanko. However, Kanko isn’t _just_ a ninja—he’s an Uzu-nin.

Grinning, he slams straight into the Mizukage rather than trying to attack with a weapon. He manages to kick the Mizukage’s sword away, sending it clattering against the stones, and the moment his hands touch the Mizukage’s body, he calls to mind a seal.

The Mizukage screams and Kanko crouches above them, eyes wide, as he watches the Mizukage convulse and shake. Pulling out a kunai, he slices it across the throat of the Mizukage. It was a quicker death than the Mizukage probably deserved, but it didn’t matter.

“How is he?” Kanko asks, turning to the others.

“He should live,” Saya answers. It’s not a confident answer, but it’s the best they’ll probably get with no hospital. “He’s poisoned though. I’ve given him a general antidote, but I’m not sure whether it’ll work.”

Mari clicks her tongue. “We can’t stay here either,” she says. “I’m not sure whether anyone will be coming and- and we need Toru to be fit to fight if anyone does. Is there anywhere we could go? That might not be compromised and away from the fighting?”

“Konoha’s an ally, technically,” Kanko says, “but I’m not certain if they really are safe. We didn’t get any help from them and they held out for weeks here.”

“Konoha’s out,” Saya agrees. “I don’t- There might be able to find somewhere safe in Kaze no Kuni. There should still be a wandering Uzumaki group out that way. But my clan isn’t in contact with them that often so I can’t say for certain. They’re not allies of Uzushio but of the clan.”

“Kaze no Kuni might be a hotspot in the war as well,” Mari says. “Could we find someone on the sea? Any ship allies? Or find some other Uzushio refugees? Somewhere has to be safe, _surely._ ”

“Benisu Island might be alright,” Kanko offers. “It shouldn’t be a spot involved with any fighting and- Well, we might not blend in there but at least we won’t be chased out.”

“I’d like to see them try,” Saya says as she picks up Toru so she’s carrying his form. “It’s the only option we’ve got at the moment, so we might as well try.” Kanko nods and leads the way, Saya in the middle, with Mari trailing along behind them as rear guard.

* * *

Benisu Island is big compared to the island Uzushio is on, but it’s smaller as a whole. The island technically isn’t quite in any single country, though Mizu no Kuni often claims the island as being within their waters—though everyone knows that Mizu no Kuni don’t really control any waters outside the channels between their own islands.

The team sneak onto the island from the east, mingling with a recently dropped boat of ferry passengers. The only problem they really have is Toru, who hasn’t woken up in the few hours of running across the ocean.

“His breathing is still steady,” Saya says. “And- And he seems to be alright. The universal antidote probably helped. No sign of infection, but it’s still early.”

“Now we just need to find a place to stay,” Kanko says. He glances at them. They’ve placed henges over their uniform to keep from being spotted, but it won’t hold up forever. “Anyone got money on them?”

It hadn’t been a major thought on Kanko’s mind, that’s for sure. But- He opens his weapon pouch and pulls out a sealing scroll. He had thought to grab his bug-out bag which won’t have much, but hopefully it’ll have what he wants.

“I’ve got a little bit on me,” Mari says. “But my bug-out bag mainly contains weapons. Saya, what do you have?”

Saya smiles, and the seals on her biceps seem to flash in the sun. “Benefit of being an Uzumaki,” she says. “My first tattoo-seal was a storage one. I don’t keep too much, but it should be enough to get us something. Especially if we pool our resources together, we might be able to- I don’t even know. What’s our plan here?”

Kanko considers it. He’s technically the second-in-command since Toru’s down, _(and making stupid decisions like sending his team away)_. But… What choice should he make here? Would Toru want them to pause, recuperate, and be ready to settle in for the war? Or would he want them to start making attack plans?

“I don’t- I don’t know,” Kanko says, words choking on his tongue. Because _he doesn’t_. “I don’t know where we go. We just-”

“Need Toru to be awake,” Mari says, nodding. She reached out, gripping Kanko’s hand. He squeezes her hand. “I know. We all do.”

“I think-” Saya pauses, tilting her head, “his chakra’s flickering again. He might wake up soon. We need somewhere to rest for a few days, if nothing else. We can move after that or stay here for longer. But we need somewhere to stay. We can ward it to our usual standards to be safe and have a rotating watch. But we need to make a decision _now_. Kanko, you’re our leader and I know it’s hard, but you do need to make a call.”

Kanko breathes out slowly. “You’re right,” he says. Temporary plans. He can do those, and Saya pretty much placed one straight in his hands. “Mari, can you check whereabouts we can stay for a few days? Try for a simple inn or something. The passengers here have to stay somewhere if they’re tourists.”

“Got it,” Mari says. She walks off, posture shifting to blend in a bit more. Kanko watches her go, tracks her through the ANBU tattoo-seal.

Looking around, Kanko spots a bench placed overlooking the sea. “Let’s move over there and wait,” he says. Saya follows and they sit against the bench. They place Toru so he’s lying across their laps and Kanko rubs a splotch of blood off his face.

“C’mon Toru,” he says softly. “Wake up. We need you.”

Toru’s eyes flicker beneath his eyelids, and- It’s a good sign, but Kanko needs Toru awake, _(needs him to prove he’s alive like he needs air to breathe; needs to know that his captain’s going to be alright; needs to know that this isn’t the end and that Uzushio lives)_. Saya wraps an arm around his shoulders and he drops his head on her shoulder, still watching Toru’s face. He can hear her steady breathing, monitored carefully, giving away the turmoil within.

After about ten minutes, Mari reappears. “I’ve got a place,” she says. “It’s the main inn here, so popular. We should be able to blend in but we’ll have to keep the henges up. There are private baths as well and I rented a room with one adjacent to it.”

“Good work,” Kanko says. He stands up, and crouches. Mari and Saya help get Toru onto his back and he stands up, Toru a deadweight on his back, _(but alive; he can hear the other shinobi breathe, can feel his heart racing, Toru is alive alive alive)_.

The moment they’re in the inn room, Saya starts placing down ward seals. Not just the basic ones, but high level ones that aren’t often seen outside of ANBU missions.

Dropping to sit on the ground, Kanko watches and waits as Toru begins to stir. The others do the same, and- and it reminds him of times in the hospital, all of them gathered as they wait for one of their teammates to wake. The stillness, the uncertainty, the fear. It’s all the same but…

This is worse. This is infinitely worse.

“Hey,” a voice croaks at him, and he lifts his eyes from the floorboards to see _Toru_ , awake and blinking and talking. “I think we’ve got some work to do.”

Kanko laughs, cries, and feels both Mari and Saya press on either side of him. They watch as Toru slowly pushes himself to sit up, clearly in pain but determined. He reaches out, running a hand over them as if making sure that they’re real.

“You weren’t meant to come back,” he says. “Don’t ever regret it though,” he adds fiercely. “It mightn’t have been planned for but we will make this work.”

“What are you talking about?” Mari asks, wiping tears from her cheeks. Perhaps it shouldn’t be unexpected that Toru already seems to have plans, but it is. How can he not be responding to Uzushio’s fall?

Toru frowns. “I… Uzushio’s alive, right?” The others nod at his question. “Right, well, she kind of… talked to me, I guess? It’s hard to describe but- Our people, they’re running right now and we can call them back. Could call them back now, if I wanted. But Uzushio is in danger. _Kirigakure_ attacked for no reason and Konoha didn’t come and- And there’s more here. It’s.”

“Breathe,” Saya says. “You’re not fully healed and none of us are ready to go haring off to war. We need to think and be smart and lay low for now. Tell us what’s up, and then we make a plan and we do this together, got it? You- You don’t get to send us away again. Never. Okay? Non-negotiable.”

“Agreed,” Mari says. “We should never have left you.”

“And you would have died with me,” Toru says. “Or would have. Originally. It was that surprise that allowed you to- to kill the Mizukage? Is that what happened?”

“Only because you were there and alone and _dying_ ,” Kanko says. “It’s not happening again. No more going into fights alone without backup if you can help it.”

“I… I don’t want to say it was a mistake, because it worked out in the end and none of us died,” Toru says. “But… I’m glad that you came back.”

Kanko glances at Saya who nods so he flings himself at Toru, landing next to him and cuddling up to the other whilst steering clear of any obvious injuries. “No teammate gets left behind,” he says. It’s a motto that Uzushio had drilled into all of them and one that Toru had taken a step further. He shifts, moving so he can rest on his side and stare at Toru. Both Mari and Saya join them on the bed, which is probably too small, but if they squish together it’s fine.

“No teammate gets left behind,” Toru says, agreeing, and he’s staring at them, eyes full of love, and Kanko almost has to close his eyes in the face of it. To think this is what they almost lost, _(to think how they all would’ve fractured, spiralled, and crashed jagged edges against each other)_.

“No teammate gets left behind,” Mari repeats. “Now, what did Uzushio say to you? It’s clearly big.”

“There are seals,” Toru begins, somewhat stilted. “Being used by someone in Konoha to… to force people, ultimately, to do things. Our ambassador was one of these sealed ninjas and they’re… It’s an army of brainwashed ninjas. Stolen children.”

“Our situation never got to the Hokage?”

“Our ambassador never got to Konoha,” Toru says after swallowing. “Whoever made her seal killed her before she had the chance.”

“Time to kill a bastard then,” Mari says cheerfully. “I’m all for causing havoc.”

“It’ll be a bit more than that though,” Kanko says. “Right? Because… I’m assuming these people are behind Kirigakure’s attack? That means we’re going to have to go root out spies.”

“We don’t call Uzushio back until it’s safe for our people,” Saya says. “No war, no fear, just peace.”

“Exactly,” Toru said, smiling, _(their village lies in ruins, their people scattered, their enemies are hidden in shadows and have armies, but they are together and alive and safe and things will be alright)_.

* * *

The world goes to war. And Uzushio is nothing but scattered ash on the wind, _(or so the world thinks)_. Meanwhile, Toru’s team hide themselves away on an island. They rest. They recover. And they plan.

_(And the rest of the world fights. Ninjas clash against other ninjas and the ground beneath their feet tremble. Trees fall and rivers are remade and the numbers begin to rise and rise and rise. Everyone is mourning for someone, it seems. But so few mourn for Uzushio. Mourn for the Uzushio they think is dead.)_

A week passes and Benisu Island remains calm, remains almost apart from the war it seems. The only change is that the ferry comes less often, the number of people arriving drops, and any news coming from the mainland is only news of war.

Toru recovers. He heals with only scars and a new near-death story to tell. And the others recover too. It gets harder to hold onto the image of Toru almost dead when he is almost always within range of touching, _(it’s a scene in their nightmares, a possible failure where Toru does die and then they die and Uzushio is really, truly dead at last—but in the present, it is easier to wipe such things from their minds and bask in the feeling of being alive and with one another)_.

Eventually, though, they know their time is running out and the news that comes only gets grimmer. It looks like the war is here to stay.

When they leave, they don’t do it as civilians. They run as ninjas across the waters to their first destination.

Mizu no Kuni.

* * *

Mizu no Kuni is a country of islands and mist. It is dull and dreary and always feels dark. It is a place that seems to be full of, more than anything else, scavengers. Rumours always paint Mizu no Kuni residents as hard, and it is obvious that such things are forced by the country they live in.

The islands on the outskirts of Mizu no Kuni are full of people with suspicious eyes. The Uzushio-nins fade into the shadows, hide in mists they aren’t born into but still know, and study the world around them. The islands furthest from Kirigakure aren’t important, even the poor ones on the outskirts that occasionally see skirmishes from groups of ninjas that try to duck into Mizu no Kuni.

Toru’s team ignores them. They hide any signs that mark them as ninjas from Uzushio, leave ANBU masks sealed away, and creep through the islands and across the sea between them. There’s one island in Mizu no Kuni that’s well known for being the most important. Not only does it hold the capital of the country, but it also holds Kirigakure—and that’s where they’re heading.

It’s laughably easy to avoid any patrols that come their way. There’s a reason why, when Uzushio took to the battleground, people ran, _(there’s a reason why Uzushio was attacked, destroyed, and left with rivers of blood as streets)_. Their seals are, as always, their best weapon.

Kirigakure rests at the base of a mountain that seems to be more rocks than anything else. Surrounding it is swampland, trapped and armed, and completely deadly to anyone who doesn’t know the paths through the swamp. Not impossible, but not easy. There is, however, another route that very, very few would take.

“Probably because if anyone sees us, we’re actually dead,” Mari says as they gear up on a cliff in the mountain above Kirigakure.

Saya laughs and bounces on her toes. “It’ll be so much fun,” she says. “I don’t know why you’re complaining. Heading down a rock cliff with no chakra is definitely an activity you urged us to do. We didn’t die then and we won’t die now.”

“But then we weren’t above an enemy village with seals holding a henge over us,” Mari points out as she checks over Kanko’s armour. “You’re all good, Kanko.”

“A little bit of added danger never hurt anyone,” Kanko replies as he begins to check Mari’s armour. “Well. Not unless the danger killed you, but we’re the best of Uzushio and _definitely_ better than Kirigakure.” After tapping Mari on the shoulder to indicate her armour’s right, he turns to look at Toru who’s standing on the cliff and gazing down into Kirigakure. “Are you all good, Toru?” He asks, raising his voice.

Toru turns around, paces away from the cliff to join them. “Yeah,” he says. “I just-” He swallows. “They _attacked_ us.”

There’s probably a difference between a battle happening in seconds and a battle waged with one party in the dark, but Mari doesn’t know it. She rolls her neck, cracks it, and lets herself shiver with the cold wind that gusts over the cliff. The fight waits for them down below and, Mari must admit, she’s eager to get revenge.

They’ve cut supply routes and lay waste to weapon warehouses and outposts on their way here, leaving nothing but ruins and broken earth in their path. Now Kirigakure lies before them, ninjas mainly stuck on the frontlines or running whatever missions Kirigakure determines to be important, and there are four ninjas waiting for revenge.

“They did,” Mari says, and there’s a snarl catching on her throat, lying thick on her tongue. “And now they’re going to pay for this.”

Kanko makes no attempt to hide the snarl, baring his teeth at the world, _(he’s gotten wilder, gotten darker, with Uzushio’s fall and Toru’s almost death—they all have, but this is war)_. “This is what they get for coming after us,” he says. “Not that they’re managing without an Mizukage, reckon anyone’s stepped up yet?”

“Someone would have to,” Saya says. “The real question is _who_ and what they’re trying to do. It’s looking more like Kirigakure’s playing a defensive game now so if we can just take out those spies and upset them enough to make it look like playing in the war at all is pointless then…”

“Then we’ll see what happens,” Toru says. “Make decisions over whatever new information we get and what changes occur. I think… Our people have spread themselves out and are in hiding, we should be able to reach out to the countries who are being _ruined_ by this stupid war. Might get some allies then.”

“And then to the battlefield?” Mari says, grinning, _(and perhaps it’s not only Kanko who’s baring his teeth at the world)_. She can imagine it—Uzushio taking to the battlefield even with their village in ruins. Maybe most of their ANBU forces are down and their seal masters are certainly hiding to stay alive, but-

But four ninjas held back an invasion force, once. _Four of them_. And they didn’t die, not even when the Mizukage faced them and their leader was on his knees and wheezing and heart pounding and trying to stay alive.

Maybe they’ve lost, but they’ve never died either. That means every fight, every battle, every war—it’s always been a victory.

“To the battlefield,” Toru agrees, and there’s a relaxed slant to his shoulders, a grin curling at his mouth, a darkness to his eyes, _(he is an ANBU Commander, people like to forget the darkness that entails)_.

He glances at them, surveys them, and then nods. “Saya and Kanko, stay safe and stay alive. Those are the priorities. Cause as much damage as you want but _don’t_ let them think Uzushio’s somehow responsible. Mari, you’re with me. We’re going to go pay a visit to some important places.”

“Hai, Taichō!”

They head down the cliff. It’s hard. They can’t see where they’re placing their feet and they can’t use hcakra and they’ve certainly not ever trained for a situation like this. But they’re strong and cling to the rock, fingers placed in cracks and feet placed on the tiniest of ledges.

Around them, the world is silent. The mist presses down, shrouding their figures, and it shouldn’t be comfortable but it _is_. It’s like the mists that the sea occasionally brought in, the ones that blanketed Uzushio until the sun’s rays broke through them. It’s like _home_.

_(It’s like Uzushio is here with them, like Uzushio is watching over them and standing with them, like Uzushio supports them here. It makes all of them feel comfortable, trusting in their safety a bit more, trusting in their plan.)_

They land amongst the green plants of the village, stone buildings just out of sight. Saya and Kanko ghost away, enemies already picked and locations chosen. They’re the ones dealing with the spies and enemies.

It had been a neat little seal. The one that Konoha’s brainwashed soldiers used. Well, not neat. It had been an awful, ugly little thing but it had been little. It had been rushed and messy and tangled. It would not be easy to move, it could be done though it would likely be painful. More importantly, it could be _tracked_.

Seals are part of Uzushio’s culture, Uzushio’s blood, Uzushio’s life. A seal coded to a single chakra signature with some of that chakra encoded in it? A few twists to the standard tracking seal, and suddenly if they were within range, they could find the brainwashed ninjas.

_(This is not the beginning of the end or the end of anything or the start of anything. This is war and this is Uzushio’s revenge.)_

Meanwhile, Toru and Mari head towards the building that has Mizukage engraved on the side. Which is probably some of the worst planning Toru has seen. Who paints a sign where the most important person works? Though, most people probably don’t plan to go and attack the Mizukage in their village.

Somehow, they make it unnoticed through the village, the shadows hiding them and their seals hiding their chakra. Standing in front of the building, Toru stares up at it. This is where someone made the order to attack Uzushio, where the invasion ninjas were carefully selected, _(or not so carefully selected, but simply ordered)_.

Toru inhales, then breathes out, feels fire chakra rise in his blood. He grins, and spits out a dragon of fire that rises into the air, winding and circling, and then slams straight into the stone. It doesn’t do anything, didn’t even have that much chakra, but it does leave a rather nice scorch mark over the two symbols representing the Mizukage.

The shouting begins and Toru grins.

He slides away from Mari who sends a civilian-made bomb into a nearby building that thinks glass windows are a good idea. He leaps up, chakra in his legs, and bounces off a low rock-wall and up to the Mizukage’s office.

Landing on the roof, he slams down with a foot strengthened by chakra, and destabilises the building. He stomps again, delighting in the cracks that begin to splinter through the stone. There are ninjas appearing now. Some are masked ANBU and some are clearly regular forces. Toru smiles at them, crouches, and shatters the stone with a surge of earth chakra, _(well, at least he hopes it appears that way; after all, finding the internal flaws in the stone and then weakening it and cracking it open is much less intimidating)_.

He jumps down into the office. It’s dark, but that was to be expected considering it’s technically night time. But the darkness doesn’t matter, not to a ninja. Besides, Toru isn’t looking for anything. He has all the things he needs, information and knowledge and- and _he doesn’t care_. Maybe that makes him a shitty human being, but he doesn’t care. This is Kirigakure—not everyone’s at fault, not everyone’s to blame, but those in government didn’t try to stop it and that’s not good enough.

Uzushio paid the price and it’s a price none of them agreed to pay.

The ninjas drop in from above and Toru doesn’t call on fire this time, but wind, sends it tearing through the walls and through the furniture and into the ninjas. He laughs, can’t help but do it, and the Kiri-nins pause.

The ground trembles as a bomb goes off nearby. Not a small, civilian one either—that’s an explosion seal ramped up.

There’s a window, in the office, and Toru slams through it, back out into the street. He flips, a kunai missing him, and lands on the street. Seconds later, Mari is there too.

“Think that got their attention?” She asks, and Toru laughs.

“Yeah, I think so,” he agrees. They’re surrounded now but-

But Kirigakure use water and Uzushio _lives_ it.

Outnumbered but definitely not outclassed, even without using seals, Toru and Mari fight back with their teeth bared and weapons sharp. That doesn’t mean they don’t take injuries. Mari’s left arm gets dislocated, and she’s severely weakened by it. Toru gets stabbed in the leg that pulses in time with his heartbeat. But they fight on. And then-

The Kiri-nins get attacked from behind, Saya and Kanko coming from the shadows, their jobs complete. It’s now getting a bit much, the lower caste ninjas arriving, and Toru grins at the world and flares his chakra.

He leaps forward and up and onto the rooftops, his team following behind him, shifting from offensive actions to retreat immediately and leaving the Kiri-nins in unorganised chaos. They create clones, split off, and activate their seals once again, chakra disappearing as they sink into the streets and the shadows and the small streams of water that runs through the village.

One stream, however, wanders out into the swampland and towards a lake away from Kirigakure. Toru sinks down into it, breather fitted over his mouth. It’s an Uzushio creation, something made to keep them underwater for a long time, _(there’s a reason why people like to say the Uzushio-nins come from the sea)_.

As he makes his way out, one by one, the others join him.

This will not see Kirigakure fall. But it will sow confusion, will sow fear, will sow worry. But it’ll also remove those who dared warmonger and created rumours that led to Uzushio’s attack. This is the removal of ROOT in Kirigakure.

* * *

One blow is made and nothing shatters. But they do not stop at one blow. They keep going. On their way out of Mizu no Kuni, they sabotage more supply routes. Create chaos and leave no clear evidence of who is responsible.

Then they follow whispers and rumours that lead them to a cove full of ships being repainted to hide signs of Uzushio, _(to show signs of Uzushio, swirls carefully hidden in paint, colours that once looked beautiful in a village, reminders of their heritage and the village that died for them)_.

It’s the Nanami Clan.

It’s the first time in a long while that Toru’s team feel truly safe. The Nanami Clan welcome them with open arms, share what they know, give them contacts and places where other refugees got off.

And Toru promises them that Uzushio will rise when there are no more enemies waiting in their harbour. He promises safety, promises no war, promises _peace_ , and they believe him. They believe him, _(what else can they do?)_.

The Nanami Clan drops them in Cha no Kuni where Toru drops a message about a trade agreement for Uzushio and the daimyō of Cha no Kuni. A Nanami Clan member stays behind there, promising to send a summon should they need Toru.

Toru trusts them to do what’s best for Uzushio, trusts them to be safe, trusts them to stay alive.

Rather than enter Hi no Kuni, they scramble across the ocean to Nami no Kuni. The country is a small one, but seems to have hit its share of fighting. This time they have to be more cautious, as there are a number of patrols within Nami no Kuni. The Konoha-nins, at least, are somewhat expected but the Suna-nins aren’t.

There’s nothing to sabotage here. There’s nothing in Nami no Kuni either, not really. The islands, scattered apart, are hindered by the war and their fields are bare for the most part. But.

But Uzushio stood alone and fell for it. Nami no Kuni isn’t being attacked but, unprotected, the country is being used as a battleground with little care for the citizens or for the ground itself.

Maybe Nami no Kuni isn’t close to Uzu no Kuni, maybe Uzushio’s reach won’t easily extend this far, but-

That shouldn’t be happening. Toru’s planning to end the war and take down Uzushio’s enemies. But his team’s not putting civilians at risk. Ninjas, yes, even those who aren’t necessarily to blame—they can defend themselves however!

_(The smoke had been thick and the ash had dropped from the sky like smooth and Uzu no Kuni had burned and Uzushio had burnt with it.)_

They’re on their way to Kaze no Kuni to sabotage some lines there, and… and Toru can’t keep going.

“Alright,” Kanko says. “You want to kick everyone out of Nami no Kuni? We can do that. But do you want to declare it to be under Uzushio’s protection? That might be an issue. Considering, you know, Uzushio’s technically fallen and the barrier’s up and no one’s going to try to get back until you call everyone home.”

“We’re with you, but we also need to think,” Mari says. “We need information. Or something. We need to figure out who the real leader is here.”

“The Daimyō here is a… third-cousin of Hi no Kuni’s Daimyō, I think,” Toru says. “So, technically, he could order Konoha to include Nami no Kuni in their protection. But I think there was intelligence relatively recently that said that it was more like the Daimyō of this country got exiled here and might be a bastard or something?” He shrugs. He’d been an ANBU Commander at the time, not someone who ran the intelligence department. “I’m not certain, but it’s clear we can use that to our advantage. There’s bound to be some resentment there.”

Tilting her head, Saya says slowly, “What if we call in some of the Nanami Clan? On their ships, they’ll be able to protect the country a bit better and, well, at first it’ll be a fight but we should be able to protect Nami no Kuni once everyone decides that it’s not worth it to keep fighting. We might be able to find some other refugee groups and send them here too, to help protect.”

“That’s a good idea,” Toru says. “Saya, can you get into contact with them using your summons?”

Saya nods, “Yep.” Her summons is something that the clan offered to her—sandpipers. They’re small birds, not capable of fighting, but they are good messenger birds and capable of locating targets by their chakra, so long as they’ve met them before. “You’ll be writing the message though.”

“Of course,” Toru says. He already has a good idea who he’ll ask to step up for the ship protection and who might be willing to remain in Nami no Kuni to protect the islands whilst they head into Kaze no Kuni. But first—“Let’s go visit a Daimyō.”

* * *

The sand of Kaze no Kuni is vastly different to the sand of a beach. The worst part of it is the dryness. They’re Uzushio-nin, used to the water and having it readily available. The heat and dryness of the desert is awful.

The only thing the desert has going for it is the fact that it’s easy to find people when you know what you’re looking for. And Kirigakure’s maps had been somewhat accurate. But they need some more information. Sunagakure is fighting for something—fighting fiercely, in a way that Kirigakure hadn’t been.

Maybe it’s because Sungakure is closer to the worst of the fighting and Kaze no Kuni is always pushing at their borders to expand and gain some fertile land. But maybe there’s another reason here.

They slink into a small desert town at the back of a merchant train, clothed in civilian clothes and doing their best to blend in. The town’s small with only a single inn, and there’s a well in the middle. What really catches their attention, though, is the fact the water from the well isn’t free. It’s expensive. In fact, there’s a sign with a lower price crossed out for the current price.

They buy their water and go to the inn. “Alright, I’m betting that it’s got something to do with water,” Kanko says immediately. “Ten out of ten, water’s involved in their fighting. That was a massive mark-up and a recent one—what’s the chance that the water has increased with price before as well?”

“High,” Saya says. “Kaze no Kuni has always been worried about their water sources, but this is definitely something bigger. Toru, what are you thinking?”

“We need to get information from someone close,” Toru says. “And we might be able to capture someone on a patrol who might know what we want. They might not be willing to give up that information though.”

Mari shrugs, at ease with the idea of torture. They’re ANBU after all, and ninjas going for revenge on top of that. “There’s no problem there,” she says. “Where do we go with this information afterwards?”

“We get the information and then decide,” Toru says. “But… Wani’s seals, the water ones, can we sell them to Sunagakure or even the Daimyō here to get their favour?”

Kanko whistles low. “That’s going to be dangerous,” he warns. “Especially if they fuck around with the sealing and recreate it. You _know_ what their sealing style’s like.”

“What sealing style?” Saya asks with an amused smile. “They don’t have one.”

“Exactly,” Kanko says. “They steal from everyone and create shoddy seals that probably shouldn’t work but somehow do.”

Toru shrugs. “So we put a failsafe in,” he says. “Something made to blow up in their faces when they try to recreate it. A strange twist that has to be unarmed after it’s creation rather than armed beforehand. A seal with some part that requires a key to unarm.”

“Bad analogy, but message understood,” Mari says. “But how do we get ourselves to the point of delivering that message—and are we selling to the Daimyō or Sunagakure?”

“I’m voting the latter,” Saya says, crossing her arms. “At the very least, Sunagakure are ninjas and we know how they work. The Daimyō is much more political and, honestly, Sunagakure doesn’t depend on them so much. Which is probably why their economic situation is,” she waves her hand, “horrible.”

Nodding, Toru says, “I agree.” He breathes out slowly, considers it. “Alright, we’ll go on a hunt for a ninja tonight.”

His team grins in response, teeth bared at the world that tried to strike them down. “Hai!”

* * *

“Hey Toru,” Mari says slowly, “I’m picking up seal activity.”

Toru blinks. “What?” He says, dropping a pace back to look at the scroll Mari’s pulled out. And, indeed, the seal is glowing dimly. But there’s almost no one nearby. Except a Sunagakure patrol that they’ve been hunting for over the course of the night, getting them on edge and then backing away to make them think its just their minds playing tricks on them.

“New plan,” he says. “Mari, I want you taking out that sealed-nin and keeping them contained for now. Kanko, you’re aiming to take down the rest of the patrol with Saya. I’ll bring down the leader. Now, _good hunting_.”

“Good hunting!” The others chorus back, and then they slip away in the night, the group splintering apart.

Rather than pouring on the speed, Toru cuts across the desert. The patrol is starting to curve back towards Sunagakure, _(not that they’ll ever reach the village)_. He pauses on top of a sand dune, standing alone with the moonlight shimmering down on him. He’s surrounded by a sea of sand rather than a sea of water, but that’s fine. He’ll make it work. He watches and he waits.

It’s obvious when the patrol see him. Their chakras spark across his senses, his range increased by a seal that he now deactivates. He grins and goes sliding down the sand, charging towards them with his chakra crackling against his skin.

The Suna-nins charge forward, the leader meeting him whilst the others go to surround him. Exhilarated, Toru laughs and flips forward, leaping over the Suna-nins. He turns, catching a kunai and tossing it sideways to Kanko who comes from the side with a cackle.

Toru grins and slips backward, letting Kanko take the limelight and he falls into the shadows of the sand dunes. It’s not quite water. He can’t just slip under and disappear, but he’s a ninja, _(an ANBU)_ , and the shadows are made for him. The night even more so.

Coming from the side, he slips around one ninja and slits his throat, letting the corpse drop onto the ground as he slams into the next, twisting and breaking her neck in seconds.

Toru’s team dart in and out of the shadows, hassling and harrowing the patrol. They never show all of them at once, laughing and grinning and baring white teeth in the night. The Suna-nins are obviously all jumpy, and they’re sloppy too, even as their leader shouts instructions and they try to fight.

But, well, they’re definitely outclassed. They’re far from ANBU level, and Toru’s team are a step above the rest. Toru whistles and tells his team to take their opponents down.

Slashing forward with his sword, Toru cuts a gap in the ranks of the Suna-nins and draws level with the leader. She turns to him, eyes wide, and Toru lunges forward before she has time to call a wind ninjutsu to her fingertips, laying down a seal that leaves her paralysed on the ground. He’s certain that she won’t be able to fight back against it.

Turning to his team, he watches as they finish their own opponents. Mari takes down the sealed-nin, though does receive a few injuries in the process, and the rest all kill their targets with some more anger than they should probably express.

Whatever. Toru’s certain it’s probably good for them in some way or another. You’re meant to express yourself, right?

“Saya, can you take care of that seal?” Toru asks, glancing at the sealed-nin who is well and truly out. “Might as well rip it out now whilst they’re out.”

Saya gives a half-hearted salute. “Got it, Taichō,” she says cheerfully.

Crouching down, Toru ties the Suna-nin leader up and retrieves her weapons, stealing them for himself. He’ll split them up with the team later, _(without Uzushio to depend on, their weapons are based off of what they buy themselves—with money they don’t have—or take from their enemies)_. He lifts the paralysis seal up and she comes to herself with a shout, stuck in the sand. She immediately tries to leap to her feet but Toru winds her with a kick and sends her into the closest sand dune.

He steps forward, Kanko and Mari flanking him, and bares his teeth in a grin, _(snarl)_. “I have some questions,” he says. “And it’s going to hurt, but it’ll be better if you tell me what I want to know.”

A second later, she spits at him. The glob lands by his foot, and he gazes at her with steady eyes. “What’s happening with the water crisis in Kaze no Kuni?” Toru asks. She doesn’t answer, but he sees her frame tremble when he picks up a kunai.

_(He will give her a merciful death the moment he can. But this is for Uzushio, and for that he’ll steal himself and do what he must. He won’t regret it.)_

* * *

Turns out someone used to help Sunagakure, and the whole of Kaze no Kuni as a result, with their water problems. They’d been buying water from a supplier in Konohagakure, and that supplier had stopped supplying. Which-

Well, Konohagakure _did_ have a lot of water, but you wouldn’t bring it all the way to Kaze no Kuni, especially consider Kawa no Kuni divides them and is full of, unsurprisingly, rivers. A few minutes later, the Suna-nin had willingly told them that the whole water business was secret and there were no tanks of water entering Sunagakure at all. Nothing outside of the ordinary.

Either someone was bringing in water with a storage seal, meaning there’s a ninja involved, or there’s something bigger involved and definitely a ninja involved.

It is, it turns out, the reason why Sunagakure is fighting so hard in the war. They’re gunning for water and trying to gain some of Kawa no Kuni’s land to get that water as they have no suppliers and no one’s offering. After all, Sunagakure certainly isn’t going to tell anyone.

“I just wanted to say that I called it being water problems,” Kanko says. “And I was right too.”

“Congratulations,” Mari says drily. “Now, what do we do with the sealed-nin?”

The ninja in question is still asleep, though it is a forced unconsciousness rather than their choice. They hadn’t woken up during the seal removal—not for long, at least. The pain had knocked them out pretty quickly.

“See if we can get any information,” Toru says with a shrug. “See if they’ll tell us anything about what the organisation they’ve been brainwashed into. Maybe they’ll want to leave or maybe they’re a sleeper agent. We won’t know until they wake up. But…”

“They’re young,” Saya says, nodding. “I picked up on that. I’d say a genin by Sunagakure’s guidelines, except they didn’t fight at a genin level when the rest of their patrol died.”

“Might be aware of their role as a sleeper agent then, or at least remember Konoha,” Kanko says. “You do realise that they’ve seen our faces. We won’t be able to just let them go or anything. Especially as they might return back to Konoha.”

Toru tilts his head and turns his gaze to Saya. “You mentioned there was an Uzumaki Clan group wandering in Kaze no Kuni. Are they like the rest of your clan when it comes to outsiders?” As in, completely willing to throwdown for anyone they adopt into the clan. Maybe the Uzumaki Clan won’t take in the ninja, but they might give them a place to rest and recover. Brainwashed children would, Toru know, likely make the Uzumaki Clan do something more.

“They’d probably take them in,” Saya says, nodding. “But they’ll need to know all the details first. I can send a bird.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Toru says.

* * *

From Kaze no Kuni, Toru leads his team to Kawa no Kuni. The country isn’t doing too badly for itself, and much of the sabotage is being perpetrated by Tanigakure. In fact, Toru simply spreads a few rumours, lays some tracks, and watches as Tanigakure takes advantage of the new information and ramps up their patrols along their Kaze no Kuni border, protecting their rivers fiercely, and turn their weapons towards the patrol of Konoha-nins that come like clockwork through their country along maintained routes in the trees to get to a battleground.

Ame no Kuni is where they end up. It’s well named, with frequent storms and sudden downpours that seem to have no warning. The country seems to be a series of hills and then flat stretches of land that frequently see flooding, as the Uzushio-nins find out.

But, what Ame no Kuni is really known for at the moment is the warfront. Due to its position between Kaze no Kuni, Hi no Kuni, and Tsuchi no Kuni, the country has become host to frequent battles.

That is not to say the country doesn’t have its own defences. In the past decade, Amegakure has found its footing amongst other ninja villages, though has only been considered a small and unimportant village, like many others. Hanzō has already earned his name, sending battlelines away from Amegakure and back into the floodplains.

Of course, Toru doesn’t care for any of that. Amegakure is a village that has a habit of spurning anyone who reaches out to them. It’s a village that Toru would prefer to avoid, _(and there are rumours and whisper of Amegakure’s hand in some of the worst missions ninjas can take—well paying missions, perhaps, but the way Ame-nins take them doesn’t sit well; not when Toru hears about teammates left behind by their own ninjas)_.

“What’s the plan here?” Mari asks as they huddle in a shed along with a horse who’s been side-eyeing them the entire time.

 _Bad luck,_ Toru thinks, _you’re just going to have to share._

Toru looks at his teammates, really looks at them. Mari’s looking worn, bones slightly more pronounced, and skin a few shades paler—maybe it’s the lack of sunlight, but it could be the fighting too. She stands steady on her feet though, meets his gaze easily, _(and still bares her teeth at the world like she can fight it)_. Kanko’s still got rage coursing through his veins, still has fury in his bones, and snarls whenever they fight an enemy. But Toru’s second is looking tired regardless, takes a bit longer to wake up, jumps in a fight too readily, _(Toru knows what long, revenge-driven missions do to ninjas, but he leads them on this one anyway)_. Meanwhile Saya is becoming less prone to smiling, landing harder on her knees, laughing a bit less. She fights—she fights and bares her teeth and punches her way through everything, meets Toru’s eyes, and doesn’t back down.

His team’s getting tired though, _(he’s getting tired)_. _Soon,_ he thinks to himself, _soon we’ll go home._

The war’s not dropping off—not yet. But Sunagakure is making overtures to an alliance for water with Uzushio’s representative. Well, communications have opened at least. Nami no Kuni is definitely under their control now, alliance confirmed and signed with the Daimyō. Cha no Kuni is also considering it, and the Nanami Clan are chasing Kiri-nins back into Mizu no Kuni and claiming much of the ocean around Uzu no Kuni.

As a result, the war is beginning to lose players and lose ground. There’s Amegakure, Iwagakure, and Konohagakure to take care of. Konohagakure is last on Toru’s plan. First step is to deal with Iwagakure, send them scrambling back to Iwagakure and let them hunt out the traitors in their midst. Toru just has to make them feel worried enough about spies and traitors first.

The second step would be to force Amegakure back towards their village rather than pushing at their borders.

Then—Konohagakure. The faceless army. _(The flashes of Uzushio lying in ruins.)_

“We’re going to focus on Iwagakure for a bit,” he says rather than explaining any of this. They know the broad overstrokes, _(could continue if he died)_ , but they will do this together, _(or not at all)_. “We’re going to be pretending to be Iwa-nins for the most part, talking about orders we’ve got to attack. We’re aiming to make them doubt their Kage or even consider that there are traitors or spies in Iwagakure. We might also pretend to be Konoha-nins or Ame-nins, talking about leaked information or intelligence sent to us by our spies. We’ll need to keep any messages from reaching Iwagakure as well. Force them to go back to share the information.”

_Soon._

* * *

The thing about Iwa-nins is that they’re often paranoid. They’re proud and patriotic and Toru’s team have become adept at being ghosts. They wreck supply lines and raid the campsites at night, stealing anything they can get their hands on. They attack and talk about traitors and orders and spies and leaked intelligence.

They make the Iwa-nins doubt themselves and the safety of Iwagakure.

They make the Iwa-nins doubt their Kage.

It had been an unexpected side effect, Toru will admit, but a better one, perhaps. From what he knows, their Kage is bloodthirsty and warmongering. Iwagakure could do better and if Toru can fight to have this war end—then maybe Iwagakure will have a Kage who doesn’t declare war at a drop of a hat.

They move onto dealing with Amegakure, which is much harder. This is Ame no Kuni. Amegakure is fighting in their country for their country, for the most part.

“Any ideas?” Toru asks after laying out the problem before his team.

Kanko shakes his head. “Since attacking everyone and leaving them dead is a bit beyond our current plans, I’m out of ideas. I can’t think of a way to have Amegakure stop.”

“We could sneak into Amegakure and find out a little bit more about what the people there are like,” Mari offers. “It sounds like we don’t have enough knowledge about Amegakure to make a decision right now.”

“And Amegakure doesn’t have great security, especially with the number of refugees coming in at the moment. Use the same seals we’ve been using to get elsewhere, and we’ll be right,” Saya says.

Toru breathes out. Nods. “Good thinking,” he says. “Let’s go get ourselves into another ninja village.”

“You know,” Kanko says as he gets to his feet, “at this rate, we’ll have infiltrated a good number of ninja villages with none of them really knowing who we are. Is there a record for that we’re breaking?”

“To be fair, most people don’t expect Uzushio-nins to come out of the sea,” Mari says. “But we’ve only done… What villages? There’s been Kirigakure obviously; we didn’t quite go into Sunagakure; briefly ran into Tanigakure; and now there’ll be Amegakure. Afterwards there’ll be Konoha obviously, but that’s- Actually, that’s a decent number.”

The team laughs. “Well we can add it to the ANBU halls of fame,” Saya says. “Or would it be the general halls of fame? We didn’t really do it as ANBU.”

“We can add the Konoha infiltration to the ANBU halls of fame. After all, we’re doing that one in masks,” Toru says, smiling. The rise of Uzushio being in Konoha is ironic, but that’s half the point. No one would expect Uzushio, not months after the start of the war and Uzushio’s fall. “Alright, let’s go plan our route to Amegakure and see what we learn.”

* * *

There’s not too much to learn. Amegakure is a dreary place, more so than the rest of the country. The number of refugees is staggering and no one really seems to know what’s going on. The team are directed to join the number of civilians camping in tents in an area that frequently floods and seems to be more mud than anything else. However, the small amount of money they have gets them into a bar on the same evening.

The strange thing about Amegakure is how there are few lines between civilians and ninjas. The ninjas live higher up in the top floor of buildings, and leap from building to building, but there don’t seem to be districts dividing them nor do the ninjas appear to stick to one place in particular. In fact, as far as Toru can tell, the ninjas are just as likely to appear in civilian places—such as bars, dealing with the rowdy crowds with ease.

Perhaps it’s due to Amegakure only turning into a ninja village recently, but Toru doesn’t mind it. It’s a far sight from Kirigakure, which treated its civilians as lesser and even divided its ninjas into castes. Kirigakure is a mess—though Toru learnt that years ago.

Even as new refugees, there’s always gossip and Toru’s team are pretty good at turning the topic so that those speaking to them talk about their village. It’s a very helpful skill and has seen quite a lot of practice in the last few months.

Reconvening, they quietly discuss their findings. “Hanzō rules with an iron fist,” Mari says lowly. “But…”

“He’s guarded well,” Saya continues. “Doesn’t trust anyone to see him basically. He never appears in public. The only time he’s vulnerable might just be in battle.”

Lowering his voice, Kanko says, “Apparently, he first spoke of peace but was overly eager to join the war. There’s a group, hidden it seems for the most part, who are talking about removing Hanzō from power. But he’s too powerful and well-guarded to do that.”

“No one’s too well-guarded,” Mari says. “There’s just not enough thinking going on to figure out a way around it. Toru, what do you want to do?”

“Do you still have your Uzushio-special poison?”

Mari dips her head in a nod. “Haven’t used it yet, why?”

“Hanzō still has to eat. Even if he has poison testers, our poison takes a few hours to kick in so he won’t notice and his food has to come from somewhere. We pass the poison on and we give our information to the group in question,” Toru says. “Kanko, do you know who’s in this group?”

Kanko shakes his head. “The person I was speaking to wasn’t part of the group, but apparently most people with a raincloud tattoo are part of the group.”

“What a cliché,” Mari comments and rocks with the punch Toru lands to her shoulder, rolling his eyes. “I’m _not_ wrong!”

“No,” Toru agrees, “but it’s certainly not helpful.”

“The woman over there,” Saya says, “by the bar. Black hair, blue dress. On her hip where the dress slit starts. Do you see it?”

The women in question is obviously a ninja. She moves with the grace of one, easily slips between people without seeming to try. But—there. On her hip, there is a tattoo of a raincloud. Saya’s right. Now they just have to make contact and get the group to take the poison and assassinate Hanzō.

“I got this,” Saya says, standing with her drink in hand. “I can flirt with the beautiful lady for the mission.”

“That’s very gay,” Kanko says and Saya winks at him. “Best of luck to you. Don’t forget the poison,” he adds just as Saya goes to stride off. Sheepishly, the Uzumaki picks up the poison, hides it, and then heads straight towards the woman the group had spotted. Toru lifts his glass and hides a smile behind it.

* * *

They leave Amegakure when the sun’s probably high in the sky. With the dark clouds covering it, it’s hard to tell. But they leave Amegakure with a poison administered and Hanzō well and truly poisoned.

“I bet you we’ll hear about his death in four days,” Kanko says, grinning, still experiencing the high of a successful infiltration.

“I’m calling three,” Mari says. “Standard stakes.”

“Of course,” Kanko says. “We could hardly do anything else. Taichō? Saya?”

Saya hums. “I’m going to go a bit more out there and say a week. I mean, they’re not going to want to let that information get out but the spies are still going to try.”

“ _We_ ,” Toru says, stressing the word, “will hear about it in about two weeks because we’ll be nowhere near Amegakure and the news will take ages to travel.”

“Oh?” Kanko says. “How so?”

“Well, we’ll spend a few days in Konohagakure and assassinate a few targets,” Toru says. “And then we’ll be racing back to Uzushio and calling our people home. We _certainly_ won’t be hearing any news then.”

“Kami, I can’t wait to go home,” Mari says, her sigh almost lost to the wind.

Home. Such an interesting term, such an interesting idea, a place so far away. Toru wants to go home too. He’s been wanting it for weeks. But he can’t go home, not until it’s safe for his people to be home as well—and it’s not.

_(Uzushio does not call him on the wind. But it encourages him, urges him forward, reminds him of why he needs to do this. And so Toru goes on, keeps fighting, and leads his team onward.)_

There are a few minutes of silence before Saya asks, “What’s your plan for in Konohagakure?”

“Track down the base of those sealed-nins,” Toru says. “Find evidence, steal all the evidence, and locate the master seal and bring it all down. Along the way, assassinate the mastermind behind it all, dump the evidence in Konohagakure and prove it to everyone, then head home and let society do the rest.”

Kanko laughs. “You’re just going to let Konohagakure fall into chaos like that?”

“Why not?” Toru asks, a touch of rage in his voice, _(his people died and Konohagakure’s at fault—the people there, the leaders, the ones who led to Uzushio’s fall)_.

“Why not indeed,” Mari murmurs. “How are you planning to do this? Infiltrating like we did everywhere else? Acting as refugees or taking the route we did in Kirigakure and going for the attack?”

Toru grins. “We’re going in as Uzushio ANBU,” he says. “Masked and using our seals. _This_ is our last attack and we will let them know.”

“Hell yeah!” Saya says, leaping in the air even as they keep running. “That’s what I wanted to be hearing! Finally, some good fights.”

Laughter echoes on the wind.

* * *

When they reach Konohagakure, it quickly becomes obvious where the sealed-nins are.

“How do they not know?” Tori asks, eyes narrowed from behind his mask. “It’s right under their feet.”

_(His bloodlust is controlled, as it always is, and even his anger is running thin after so much time. But as ANBU, he does not allow his emotion to rule him.)_

“Perhaps they do,” Tora says, a growl underlining her voice. “Perhaps they simply don’t care.”

Kame remains silent, waiting, _(the perfect assassin)_ , and watches Jakkaru instead. Behind his mask, Jakkaru stares at Konohagakure’s massive walls, blinking steadily.

“Alright,” Jakkaru says softly. “We’re going to enter the base together. Use the chakra we’ve stolen from the other seals to slice through any seals we encounter. Take down the sealed-nins. You know how it goes. Kame, I want you in the background for the most part. You’re going to be searching for the person responsible for it all if you can.”

Dipping her head in a nod, Kame says, “Hai, Taichō.”

“Tori, I’m going to need you to be searching for evidence. Tora, you’re going to be watching our backs,” Jakkaru says. “I’ll be front-lining, same as normal.”

“Understood,” Tori says. “Kame is acting as my partner?”

“Should it be necessary. But the preference is to stick together in a group. We’re stronger together than we are apart. Use seals and bring down the walls,” Jakkaru says. “I doubt we’ll call attention to ourselves, not if these sealed-nins haven’t been discovered in the first place.”

“Got it,” Tora says. She pauses, staring at Konohagakure before turning to Jakkaru and waiting for him to lead them forth.

Before he does so, however, Jakkaru says, “For Uzushio.” Then he’s gone, disappearing into a tunnel and easing his way past a seal made to keep others out, _(someone never realised that by using seals and not being a seal master, he had a weakness that could be exploited)._

From the beginning, they are attacked. But these sealed-nins come at him with fire and blades and the Uzushio-nins fight with water and wind and seals. There is no competition. The Uzushio-nins push through and leave a trail of bodies in their wake.

They don’t try to hide. Why should they? They know exactly what they want. If they get attacked, so be it. They won’t die here, _(not so far from home, not when Uzushio is waiting for them, not when Uzushio will see them back safely)_.

Jakkaru knows that whoever the mastermind is, they’ll have been alerted by their attack. It’s half the point, to be honest. The sooner the mastermind comes to them, comes _for_ them, the sooner Jakkaru can take them down, _(no mercy, not for the one who tried to kill his village and his country and has led to so many deaths)_.

Teeth bared behind his mask, Jakkaru bounds forward and sweeps sealed-nins aside. None of them make him pause, none of them manage to put up much of a fight, _(there is a reason people ran from the battlefield when the Uzushio-nins entered it)_.

After forcing their ways through the tunnels for an hour, Tori finally finds a room with locked files. Now Jakkaru is forced to make a choice—will they halt in their movements, place down a defence at the entrance and stall, barricading themselves in to get evidence? Or does he split his team and head further into the depths, searching for what lies buried deep?

“Call up clones,” he signs at last, making a decision. “And call us back if you need. Don’t bother following, when you have your evidence, head out and start spreading it around.”

“Hai,” Tori signs then, after a pause, he adds, “Stay safe.”

Jakkaru and Kame leave Tori and Tora behind, venturing out further into the halls. The fighting is still fierce, harder now with only clones at their back, especially as both Jakkaru and Kame are trying to prevent the sealed-nins from realising that they’re only clones and that the team divided itself.

A surge of chakra runs through the halls—familiar, and Jakkaru grins. The sealed-nins drop in piles. Clearly, the other two had found the master seal and changed it, leading to the sealed-nins’ own seal changing.

“I’ve found the mastermind,” Kame signs and Jakkaru feels a thrill run through his body. _Finally_. At last, Jakkaru can fight the person responsible. Can destroy them.

_(Can make them pay for the rivers of blood, the broken families, the burning fields, the fallen village.)_

Jakkaru signs back a command and then shoots forward, unheeded by the sealed-nins now. Someone meets him when he rounds the corner. It’s a man. He has bandages ravelled around one arm, but appears uninjured. Moves like he’s not injured. It’s definitely not a weak point so Jakkaru dodges a tanto that tries to slide its way between his ribs, and pulls water from the air around him, flooding the tunnel.

In return, fire flares and steam blocks Jakkaru’s vision. But it’s just mist. Just like fighting on the sea in the morning or in Kirigakure. He launches forward, flips around a bunch of kunai, slides a step to the right and shoves a seal down against the ground.

At his feet, a whirlpool comes to life, tugging on the water beneath his feet. Jakkaru glides around it, finds his feet, and then there’s something red glowing through the steam that’s beginning to disappear.

Remembering what he’s been told of the Uchiha Clan, Jakkaru drops his eyes, flares his chakra to break any genjutsu, and calls the wind to his aid. It screams, gouges the wall around him, and misses the ninja in front of him—but it does get rid of the steam, at least.

He’s not sure whether that’s a good thing.

But-

But Jakkaru doesn’t need to keep this fight contained, doesn’t really want to to be honest. So rather than attack he launches himself upward, flickering through the signs for an earth ninjutsu as he does so. Rather than slam into the ceiling, he hits it and goes through, goes up and up and up.

He doesn’t know what lies above him, but it doesn’t matter. Maybe the Konoha-nins will see this man fighting a foreign-nin and fight him, but Jakkaru doesn’t care. His team is coming, _(Kame waits in the shadows to launch an attack)_ , with Tori and Tora racing towards him along the hallways.

They have the evidence and Jakkaru has Uzushio’s call signing in his veins and _he will not be stopped!_

Surging out of the ground, Jakkaru laughs. He lands on the ground, rolling, and dodges a blade that sends the earth cracking from its strength. “Bet you thought you’d seen the last of us,” he says, and blurs forward, trying to land a seal on the man.

Its dodged, but the seal hits the ground and Jakkaru closes his eyes just before it flares bright white, having changed the seal milliseconds before. Twisting, Jakkaru slashes out with a kunai, watches as the blade tears clothing, just before his enemy dances away.

“How?” The man hisses, eyes wide, and Jakkaru grins.

“We’re stronger than you thought,” he says, dancing around blows and landing small attacks that deal almost no damage. “You thought you’d killed Uzushio, thought you’d destroyed us. But we’re back. We’re _back_ and you never killed us. Maybe you planted spies everywhere, maybe you had our ambassador killed even though she should have been _yours_. How many villages have you killed? How many wars have you started?”

“Konoha must be strong!”

No defences are offered. No objections given. This man accepts it, knows it to be true, _(and doesn’t realise how they are not alone)_.

Jakkaru laughs. “And Uzushio must fall, apparently.” He lunges forward, blurring with speed, and his enemy sends fire flying towards him. It catches his arm, burns, and Jakkaru rolls. He comes up in front of the man, teeth bared behind his mask, and slaps down a seal—just as Kame comes from behind, blade going straight through the man’s ribs.

She twists the blade, the action driven by revenge, but then she pulls it out and retreats back into the shadows. Jakkaru stands, slits the man’s throat, and flips backward, crouching and waiting to see if the man falls.

But-

He does not fall, and Jakkaru watches, heart pounding, _(Uzushio’s enemy cannot be forever living, never dying)_. The man attacks, sharp and angry, chakra roiling, and Jakkaru is instantly on the defence.

_(He is not alone.)_

Kame comes from the side, darting out of the shadows, blade extended. However, her sword is parried before anything can happen, even as Jakkaru calls on a ninjutsu and sends a wave of water surging forward.

That’s when Tori leaps out of the earth, lays down a seal, and stabs an eye, before darting backwards to stick beside Jakkaru. The man doesn’t fall, just goes still and silent and deadly, but they are ninjas—why should it matter?

Tora appears now, water entwined with lightning and sending the man to the ground. Their enemy, _(Uzushio’s enemy)_ , climbs back to his feet even with shaking limbs. However, he is weak and they are together, _(an army)_.

It’s-

They’re not alone. Jakkaru can feel it. There are ghosts at his shoulder and supporting him, and his team is beside him and with him, but there are people of Uzushio and Uzu no Kuni here—and they have come. How they knew, Jakkaru has no idea. Maybe some of them are ANBU and felt the fight, maybe they heard, maybe Uzushio called to them too. But they’re here.

Jakkaru darts out of the way, defends Kame, and sidesteps as Tori lunges forward for an attack. Then, from the side, a ninja that isn’t one of them darts in, lands a blow and escapes before they interfere too much with the battle.

Laughing again, Jakkaru lays down a series of seals, pushes the man back, and watches as Tora rises up from behind and lands a death blow. This time, the man goes down. This time, the man does not go down.

Jakkaru’s team is at his back, and he glances around. There are Konoha-nin watching, hesitating, and Uzushio-nins as well. Not many but a few. Jakkaru meets their gazes and nods at them.

He can sense a chakra flaring as it races across the village—the Sandaime. Jakkaru glances at Tori who nods, and drops a bunch of files. Then they’re racing across the rooftops. There are LEAF on their tails now, though why they didn’t interfere earlier, Jakkaru doesn’t know, but the team bound over the walls of Konohagakure and turn to Uzushio, turn home.

And they run. Not because they have to. Not because they’re being chased. Not because there’s another attack to make. But because Uzushio lies for them and calls their name on the wind and waits for them.

 _Home_.

* * *

Uzushio does not pull itself out of ruins easily. It is hard work. There are bodies to mourn and people lost to the wind and the sea comes in and goes out, and the shipwrecks remain. But-

But the war is over. But Uzushio lives. But the world goes on.

Toru takes control of his ANBU and staunchly refuses to act as Uzukage too. Not when he’s led his team to infiltrate village after village more for revenge than anything else. Without an emergency, Toru can safely avoid the Uzukage duties.

More than that, Toru doesn’t trust himself, _(he was Uzukage and almost died; almost let Uzushio die)_. He calls Uzushio back with his team, greets them at the shore and the harbour and the cliffs.

Uzushio comes back. This is all that matters. Uzushio comes back and the world moves on and Toru doesn’t stop working, doesn’t stop fighting, doesn’t stop breathing, _(doesn’t kneel, battered and bleeding and poisoned, at the feet of his enemy)_. He laughs and his team, _(and Uzushio)_ , laugh with him.

Here is what matters now: the war ends and the villages find themselves in peace once again. Uzushio claims alliance after alliance, operating in countries where there are no hidden villages. Konohagakure is no longer their ally, but there is a vague alliance—the same goes for Sunagakure, and Kirigakure definitely refuses to come near.

Here is what matters now: life is good for Uzushio. The people smile and laugh. The horrors of war, the blood-red streets, the running—such things haven’t disappeared from their minds, but people have always been good at coming back from tragedy. They pick up hope, drape it over themselves like armour, and keep marching on. And Uzushio raises their banner, cheers at their success, and pull one another out of the mud. This is the Uzushio that never fell. This is the Toru that never died.

**Author's Note:**

> Toru's old ANBU team!!!! I love them. Look at them all angry and full of rage and refusing to let Toru die. God, I love them. I forgot how much I did. 
> 
> Toru's team is definitely having a time in this. 
> 
> Listen, I had to figure out how to have Toru and fam fix everything and get that information from somewhere, so I took the cheap option because this is an AU and shouldn't be as long as the actual fics. 
> 
> Anyway, apparently I'm really bad at writing really ruthless characters because this was not bloody or awful at all, or not as much as I originally was thinking it would be. 
> 
> Me: Alright we're going to deal with all the major villages.  
> Toru: Okay, but if we deal with the problems here first.  
> And that's how I feel like I ended up involving Nami no Kuni. 
> 
> Toru might not be able to adopt all the people as he deals with all of Uzushio's enemies and the entire war, but he can foist them off onto others to deal with. 
> 
> I hope Silver enjoys the briefest bit of my beautiful Saya Uzumaki preparing to seduce someone for the mission. I definitely think I shared this with you. I think. I could definitely be off. 
> 
> The Konoha fight was fun and the whole Konoha-nins not partaking in the fight probably had a reason. Likely the illegal Sharingan that Danzo had, but I don't actually remember anymore. It's been a while since I wrote it. 
> 
> I did enjoy that ending and I hope all of you enjoyed this! Especially you Maye, since you did request this one. I wish all of you the best!! Take care of yourselves.


End file.
